In urostomy, colostomy, ileostomy, tracheotomy, and other similar operations, part or all of a patient's bladder, intestine, or other internal organ is removed, and is replaced with a conduit for channeling body fluids or waste out of the patient's body via a stoma or tube. In the case of a colostomy, ileostomy or urostomy, body waste is collected by an external apparatus, usually attached to the patient's skin around the stoma or tube. For example, a conventional ostomy appliance is a relatively flat plastic bag having an aperture to receive the stoma, the bag usually being formed with a flange for fitting around the stoma and for being sealed to the skin of the abdomen with an adhesive layer.
The adhesive layer of the appliance flange will sometimes leak due to an imperfect seal. Such a break in the seal can be caused by abdominal folds, wrinkles in the flange when it is first applied, strenuous physical activity, humidity, or other stresses placed on the adhesive, including those arising from the inflexibility of the flange in the central region where the flange is connected to the bag. The leak can result in stains on the patient's clothing and embarrassing odors. It is often inconvenient or impossible for the patient to change the appliance before a leak becomes noticeable.
Various types of absorbent pads have been designed for absorbing such leakage, including a pad designed to fit around the aperture of the collecting appliance. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,659, a removable U-shaped absorbent pad is mounted with an adhesive strip, or held in a pouch on the inner, or skin-facing, surface of the urostomy bag over the lower half of the receptacle flange receiving the stoma. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,752, an absorbent pad is formed by doubling over the absorbent layers and providing a slit and annular opening for fitting immediately around the stoma against the patient's skin and underneath the receptacle flange of a colostomy appliance.
The absorbent pad of U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,752 is first placed on the skin around the stoma, and the appliance flange is next positioned on top of the pad. A belt must then be used to hold the bag and pad in place. This type of absorbent ostomy pad can only be used with the small proportion of appliances that do not use adhesive on the flange as the means of attachment. The pad, it should be noted, can only be applied or removed at the same time as the appliance itself.
Further, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,752, the pad acts like a sponge releasing retained fluid and odor when pressure is applied thereto. There is no provision made for trapping liquid absorbed by the pad and preventing it from leaking out when the pad becomes saturated and pressure is applied thereto. This circumstance would occur any time the wearer bent forward from the waist. In addition, there is the disadvantage that the skin in contact with a wet pad would remain wet and, over a sustained period, could become irritated and excoriated.
Accordingly, it is a principle object of the present invention to provide a separately disposable, self-adhering absorbent pad, for use with an ostomy appliance or other external collecting apparatus fitting around a stoma or tube extending from a patient, adapted so that fluid which is not passed into the appliance will be absorbed and retained by the pad without leakage of fluid or odor therefrom for prolonged periods of time.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a construction wherein the fluid which cannot be accommodated by the pad is not released onto the patient's skin or clothing.
Still another object is to provide an absorbent pad which can be conveniently applied around the aperture of a collecting appliance, can be adjustingly fitted thereon despite variations in the dimensions thereof, and will remain securely in position.
A further object of the invention is to provide an absorbent pad adapted to cover the entire flange of the ostomy appliance for providing 360 degrees of protection against appliance failure.
Yet a further object is to provide an absorbent pad which is a totally separate device from the appliance, which can be removed completely independently of the appliance, and which is not subject to the stresses applied to the appliance flange by the rigid appliance aperture to which the flange is directly attached.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an absorbent pad adapted to be worn on the outside of the appliance flange and which is suitable for use with substantially all ostomy appliances including those attached with adhesive or by means of a belt.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an auxilliary means contained within such a pad for trapping large amounts of liquid by converting the same into a gel.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a flexible absorbent pad of substantially reduced bulk, as compared to the presently disclosed pads, which will contain odor in addition to leakage and which will trap liquid out of contact with the patient's skin.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be appreciated from the following disclosure.